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The State of the Legion

Brothers and Sisters (yes there are a few of them out there), it’s has come time for us to take a look at the state of our legion. Outsiders should also take this opportunity to reflect on there own various warbands. Change is upon us. The imperium is about to bestow upon us a new edict on how we wage war. How will you treat this opportunity?

Okay, silly talk aside, the change in editions is a big moment for me. I was out of 40k for a long time (7 years) and only got back into at the start of 6th. When I got back into it, I did it in a big way; new army, new gaming group, new stores. It’s time for me to look back and see what has worked and what hasn’t.

Our gaming group has started to dwindle compared to the start of 6th. This could be because of my core group’s relocation to a new store (Critical Hit Games). It could be that some of our members have not enjoyed 6th and either stopped gaming or migrated to different systems. I hate to say it, but looking at the facts, our gaming group appears to be in a decline from where it was 2 years ago.

7th edition is going to change the game. It could be good or bad, that’s not the point. I want to seize this moment of change and try to stop the decline of my beloved legion. I truly wish that some of the guys that have wandered away might be ready to come back and give it a go again. I am not sure how to do that besides begging and pleading through various means of communication.

There is also a community of what I call “retired gamers” at crit. These are guys who have an army already and experience with 40k, but never bring them in to play. My group is there just about every Saturday. I want you guys to join in if you are reading this. Shorereaper and I have made a pact. If anyone comes down to our store on a day we are there playing (usually Saturday), we will stop our game to make sure you get one in. I want you guys to feel like part of our community, I want you to feel welcomed.

We have struggled introducing new gamers to our group. In the past year I can only remember two guys who started playing 40k and stuck around to play with us. Unfortunately they have seemed to have lost interest. I don’t feel it is from a lack of trying on our parts. The lord primarch and I both tried to help them with army design and Shorereaper played several games with them.

What has worked though for us is introducing variety into our gaming group. In the past 2 years many of us have added new armies to our collections, greatly increasing our variety of games. We have branched out past the core rule book to try a few homebrew campaigns and started a series of narrative events (which is set to wrap up in June hopefully). We have played in a few local tournaments. We have experiment with alternative mission formats (Bay Area Open). Shorereaper is starting down the road of a Horus Heresy alpha legion army. The lord primarch and I are looking into making our existing space marine armies 30k compatible. We have played kill teams and apocalypse. The only thing I think we haven’t done is escalation.

7th edition will bring a change to our community. Some guys will stay, some will go, and hopefully some will return. I am sure will we probably reel in our crazy game styles for a few weeks as we give the core rulebook a good read and try to get it down pat. If you have been out of 40k and want back in, now is a great time to jump in, it will be a level playing field again. I am sure next week and the week after will be full of impression articles on the new edition. I think we will also try to start a codex review series discussing the winners and losers of 7th edition rule changes. So stay tuned, and prepare for war!

One thought on “The State of the Legion”

I agree with Severus about stopping a game to make sure new people get one in. I have no issues with halting play for that reason, we do want new players to feel welcome. I also usually have two of my armies with me, the Nids and the Carcharodons, but I may start bringing Tau or Necrons instead of the sharks. If you play Fantasy and want to try 40K, please feel free to ask. As long as you treat the models with respect, I do not have any issues with your trying out a game with one of my other armies.